Nibukawakami-Jinja

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NIBUKAWAKAMI-JINJA

by

Richard

Ponsonby Fane

Life Member of tiie~5leiji Japan Society

This paper deals with the curious history of the Nibu-
kawakami Shrine, i.e. the shrine at the head of the Nibu
river in Yoshino. It is an isolated spot, a place called
Ogawamura, at the foot of the mountain Takamiyama, on
the upper reaches of the river Nibu, and though in Yoshino
it is almost on the borders of Ise.

The site is mentioned in the earliest chronicles, for in
the Nihon-shoki we find that:

"Kamu-yamato iware hiko no mikoto (i.e. the
Emperor Jimmu) taking 80 platters and jars went to the

upper waters of the river Nibu and sacrificed to the

Gods of Heaven and Earth."

Though the date of the foundation of a shrine here is
not known, it is clear that the place was one with ancient,
sacred and auspicious associations, and it is to be presumed
that the shrine is of very old standing. Prof. Nishida Naojiro
of Kyoto University is even of opinion that Nibukawakami
was the place where the original inhabitants invoked their
rain maker before the arrival of Jimmu Tenno, and that
it was for this reason that it was selected as a place of
worship.

Coming to early documentary references to the shrine,
we find it mentioned in the Engishiki with other important
shrines in the district (Kori) of Yoshino. All authorities
are agreed that the deity worshipped was a rain deity, and
most of them hold that this deity was the goddess Mizu- H
hanome-no-Mikoto, also styled Amashi-no-Kami, which

M697005

-b

— 2 —

signified a rain deity.

Some accounts refer to the deity as Kurao-Kami, and
here we have a confusion, or perhaps an identification, of
rain deities bearing different names, since as well as ]\Iizu-
hanome the deities Takaokami and Kuraokami are regarded
as rain deities. As the etymology of their names shows,
Taka is a god of high places, and Kura a god of valleys;
and both were, or came to be, associated with rain.

In any case, there can be no doubt that the deity of
Nibukawakami was from the beginning a rain deity.

The date of the foundation of the shrine is given by
one authority as a.d. 676, but there is no proof. We can
however be sure that it was of long standing importance by
about 750.

From references jn early chronicles the following points
emerge.

1. Ofificial offerings were sent by Imperial messengers to
this shrine from time to time, when rain was praj'ed
for, a black horse was sent. When fine weather was
prayed for, a white horse.

During the 9th century the rank of the shrine was raised
several times. It was given the lower fifth rank in 818, and
had reached the lower second by 897. The fact that the
shrine possessed a tablet inscribed "Upper First Rank" is
recorded, but the date of the grant is not known.

An important reference to the shrine is found in the
Engikyaku, under the date 895. It consists of an edict by
the Dajo-kwan (i.e. the Chancellors Office) granting an ap-
plication from the Dejiartment of Religion (Jingi-kwan),
asking that the boundaries of the shrine be strictly enforced.
The following is a quotation from the petition :

"In 'Myojin Ilonki' it sa.ys that an oracle of the
deity said, if you will build my shrine deep in the moun-

— 3 —

tains of Nibu Kawakami in Yoshino, far from the voice
of man, the earth shall have refreshing rain and violent
rains shall cease, and therefore this shrine was built.
From old until now, hei and horses have been offered, and
within the four boundaries, the horses have been pastured
and hunting forbidden. But the primitive inhabitants
of Kuzu, and wanderers, on the pretext of bringing offer-
ings, have often desecrated and polluted the divine terri-
tory, in such a manner as to incur the divine wrath, and
we, Hafuri and Negi, believing that they were bringing
offerings, have not interfered, and the divine boundaries
have been defiled. How can we leave this sinful people
longer unpunished. Therefore we appeal to you to bring
the matter before the authorities, and beg them to issue
a ban regarding the divine boundaries, and cause it to be
strictly enforced."

This petition, having been approved by the Department
of Religion, was transmitted to the Chancellor's Office for
the necessary administrative action.

The document is interesting as an example of admin-
istrative practice in those days ; it is first class evidence, but
the curious thing is that, despite such an official record, the
history of the shrine should have been lost sight of, and
actually mistaken in a later period.

It can be shown that the dispatch of offerings by
Imperial Messenger continued without interruption to as
late as 1450. There are records of Imperial messages sent
on such occasions. One of these may be cited — sent by the
Emperor Mommu in 850.

The Emperor with the deepest respect and profound
awe addresses the august deity of Nibukawakami. !^

' ' Since last spring rain has fallen and we anticipated —
an abundant harvest and were filled with joy, but, of

— 4 —

late, the rain has been grievous, and the farmers are sore
distressed. Now it will become fine and the crop abundant
only by the gracious intervention of the great deity, and,
therefore, having chosen an auspicious morning, we are

despatching of rank with a thank offering

of hei and a red haired horse.

"Maj' Thine Augusness graciously incline Thy ear
to our prayer, and grant that the autumn harvest and
winter storage may be protected from all hurt by wind
and rain, by drought and by insects, and further vouch-
safe to guard the Emperor and the Imperial Throne,
making them as firm as a rock, and protecting them by
day and by night, and safeguard Our person and have
pity on Our people. Spoken with awe and reverence."
During the wars and political chaos of the 15th century
the system of despatching offerings from the Court broke
down, and knowledge of the shrine, partly no doubt because
of its remote situation, seems to have disappeared. It was
not until after the firm establishment of peace by the Toku-
gawa Shoguns that an effort Avas made to resume the old
customs. But meanwhile wrong information had been
spread, and there was confusion between various shrines.

In 1863 the Emperor Komei sent a messenger with
offerings to Nibu village in Yoshino, — the wrong place. The
local slirine was raised to the first cla.ss; and thougli all tlie
old autiiorities give the deity as Midzuhanome, the deity
was now declared to be Okami no Kami, a name which does
not api)ear in the Kojiki or the Nihonshoki.

The priests appointed soon discovered that a mistake
liad been made, and they tried to discover which was the
real shrine. Encpiiries and discussions went on for years,
and a temporary solution was reached by appointing two
shrines, an upper and a lower, one to Takaokami and one to

— 5 —

Kuraokami.

Neither was the true shrine, and it was not until 1922
that the final solution was reached. The story is too long
and detailed to recount here, but it may be summarized by
stating that in the Keian period (1648-52) the Nibu Kawa-
kami Shrine had become the Aritoshi Shrine because (it is
conjectured), for want of funds, the wardens wished to
conciliate the powerful Koya San, and agreed to making
the pure Shinto establishment into a Jinguji, a combination
of Shinto and Buddhism. Anyhow, there are records to
show that a ceremony of transfer took place in 1650, in
which a number of Buddhist priests participated. The
principal deity was transferred to a newly constructed
shrine on the other side of the river, and the main shrine
was now dedicated to Aritoshi Myojin.

A remarkable sequence of events, some of which are
very obscure, thus produced the result that this famous old
shrine was lost sight of and the goddess Mizuhanome was
not reinstated in her ancient shrine until 1922, after many
years of doubt and discussion.

The credit for eliciting the truth is due to the en-
thusiasm and the industrious research of a "parishioner"
of Aritoshi named Moriguchi-Narakichi, now chief priest
of Futara in Utsunomiya. As a young student he com-
menced enquiries in the year 1900 and, after protracted
researches and arguments, petitions and memorials, he suc-
ceeded in inducing the Naimusho to accept his view. He
even went so far as to resign a good official position and
take a subordinate post in the Kasuga shrine in order to be
in close relations with authorities dealing with Shinto
matters. Thanks to his efforts, in 1922 the main shrine was ^
dedicated to Midzuhanome, with Izanagi on the East, and O
Izanami on the West.

— 6 —

Critique sur Le Shinto par Dr. G. Kato

Ce livre publie en auglais par le savant professeur a, I'Universitfi
imp^riale de Tokyo, le Dr. Genchi Kato, et traduit r^cement en fran-
Qais par les soins de la Maison Franco-Japonaise de Tokyo, est assure-
ment le meilleur ouvrage de vulgarisation qui ait paru sur le Shinto,
redevenu depuis 1868, commc on le sait, la religion natiouale et officielle
au Japon.

Le Shinto qui, a son premier stade, en des temps tr^s anciens, etait
une religion de ia nature, le culte simple et primitif des grandes forces
naturelles, a depuis lors, siugulierement ^volu^. Passant par des phases
diverses, il est devenu aetuellemeut, au moins en tant que religion
d'Etat, une sorte de code de morale nationale "broch4, nous dit I'auteur,
dans le tissu meme des croyances originelles et de I'organisation
nationale du peuple japouais." Sincerity et purete, tels en sont les
deux grands principes. Faire le bien, c'est etre pur; celui qui fait le
mal est impur.

Toutefois k c6t6 du Shinto oflBciel, religion morale, religion d'Etat,
dont les hauts fonctionnaires sont les pretres, il y a le Shinto populaire,
Shinto des vicillcs croyances et des superstitions, qui se partage en de
nombreuscs sectes, dont treize sont officicllement reconuues comme
religions, sur le meme pied que le Bouddhisme et le Christianisme.

Consid^rant le Shintoisme a sa lointaine origine, puis le suivant
k travers ses Evolutions successives jusqu'i I'Epoque actuelle, en
marquant chaque f ois ses caract6ristiques dominantes, I'auteur nous trace
ainsi, d'une fa^-on claire, sa trSs curieuse histoire. Et comme c'est un
savant qui I'Ecrit, un savant trSs vers6 dans I'^tude de I'histoire du
mondc ct des religions, qui ne manque pas de noter, partout on il les
rencontre, les rapprochements et les rajiports, il se trouve que son livre
est ii la fois une histoire du Shintoisme ct une tr^s interessante Etude

des religious compar6es.

7^ Et c'est par ce dernier cot6 pent -etre que sa lecture apparaitra plus

■^ captivante aux lectcurs occidontaux ct rctiendra davantage leur atten-
tion (I'ubliEe dans le Bulletin de rAgeuce flconomique de I'ludo-Chine).

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